Aston Martin to develop high-performance batteries with Britishvolt

Autocar's vision for Aston's first electric sports car

Partnership supports luxury maker's plans to launch first EV in 2025

Aston Martin has agreed a deal with Britishvolt to develop “high-performance” batteries for its EVs, which will arrive from 2025. 

It is the latest high-end car maker to announce a partnership with the Blyth-based battery firm, following Lotus’s recent news that it will use batteries supplied by Britishvolt for a new electric sports car.

Aston Martin said it is targeting “new standards of repeatable on-track performance, charging time and range” from its electric vehicle programme as it seeks to “create the most desirable ultra-luxury performance EV”.

A joint research and development team from both firms will design, develop and industrialise battery parks including bespoke modules and battery management systems. It will also maximise the capability of cylindrical high-performance cells being developed by Britishvolt for use in Aston Martin EVs, according to the car maker.

The Gaydon-based firm’s first plug-in hybrid, the mid-engined Aston Martin Valhalla supercar, arrives in 2024, its first EV in 2025 and by 2026, all new ranges will have an electrified powertrain variant. 

Aston Martin, which already uses Mercedes powertrains and other components, said the partnership with Britishvolt is complementary to its existing agreement with Mercedes-Benz. 

Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers said: “This powerful collaboration combines Aston Martin’s 109 years of engineering mastery with the expertise of a fast-growing UK technology business. Working together with Britishvolt, I believe we can create new technologies to power benchmark-setting Aston Martin electric cars that will match our reputation for high performance and ultra-luxury with the highest standards of sustainability.

“Supplementing the close strategic relationship with our shareholder Mercedes-Benz AG, this partnership provides Aston Martin with additional access to technology and skills to broaden our electrification options.”

Orral Nadjari, boss of Britishvolt added: “This collaboration once again highlights the value of working hand-in-glove with customers to co-develop and manufacture tailored, sustainable, localised battery cells, allowing vehicle makers to deliver superior products.  “We are excited about the prospect of an all-electric Aston Martin powered by Britishvolt’s low carbon, sustainable battery cells. Collaboration like this is the only way forward for a successful energy transition.”

Britishvolt’s new agreement to make batteries for Aston Martin aligns closely with its existing agreement to supply Lotus, said chief commercial officer Oliver Jones. 

“The market for high-performance car batteries isn’t very well served at present,” he told Autocar. “The Big Six battery manufacturers currently concentrate on the mainstream market, where the volume is, whereas while we ramp up we’ll supply sectors at the extremities of the market, especially the commercial and the high performance markets.      

Jones says Britishvolt expects to supply Aston batteries alongside the existing battery supplier to Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin’s powertrain partner. The Blyth-based company will participate in the development of the whole Aston Martin EV powertrain, says Jones, including battery management, controls and cooling to help ensure best performance.

Britishvolt is developing a “unique” battery design that reduces the need for a trade-off between energy and power in batteries, says Jones, while also offering very fast charging. 

“Concentrating on the high performance sector allows us to push the technology in an uncompromising environment,” he says, “and creates a beneficial trickle-down for all of our products. 

He expects Britishvolt’s specialisation at the performance and commercial vehicle ends of the market to last while the company ramps up its production through four phases to its 30Gw target “in three or four years”. By that time, it aims to be big in the mainstream market, too.

Additional reporting by Steve Cropley